RDP 2019-02: Is Declining Union Membership Contributing to Low Wages Growth? Appendix C : Descriptive Statistics for Difference-in-differences Sample

James Bishop and Iris Chan

April 2019

Table C1: Difference-in-differences Estimation Sample
Private sector agreements certified between 21 December 2002 and 4 October 2012
  Greenfields (treatment)   Non-greenfields (control)
Workplace Relations Act 1996 (pre-Work Choices) Work Choices Fair Work Act 2009 Workplace Relations Act 1996 (pre-Work Choices) Work Choices Fair Work Act 2009
Average AAWI (per cent) 4.3 4.1 4.7   4.3 4.5 4.5
Effective duration (years) 2.8 2.4 3.1   2.7 2.9 2.8
Union involvement (per cent of agreements) 100.0 62.5 100.0   90.8 72.9 81.3
Number of agreements 1,036 1,319 1,486   19,561 11,983 14,602
Average number of employees covered per agreement na na na   72 93 88
Industry composition (per cent of agreements)(a)
Agriculture, forestry & fishing 0.0 0.1 0.1   0.3 0.4 0.7
Mining 2.8 3.0 5.0   0.7 1.7 1.9
Manufacturing 8.1 2.7 4.8   21.7 20.6 22.4
Electricity, gas & water supply 0.6 0.8 1.1   0.7 2.0 2.3
Construction 79.1 77.6 68.0   55.9 44.6 37.2
Wholesale trade 0.5 0.2 0.8   0.8 1.4 3.1
Retail trade 0.4 0.6 0.5   1.9 1.6 1.2
Accommodation, cafes & restaurants 1.1 1.0 0.4   0.8 1.5 1.3
Transport & storage 2.6 3.0 3.9   5.5 6.8 6.7
Communication services 0.0 0.0 0.0   0.4 1.3 0.9
Finance & insurance 0.0 0.0 0.2   0.5 0.6 0.7
Property & business services 4.1 3.1 12.0   2.4 2.2 5.3
Government administration & defence 0.1 1.0 0.9   0.1 0.8 1.0
Education 0.0 0.5 0.1   0.9 4.1 3.3
Health & community services 0.4 5.0 0.5   5.5 8.4 9.2
Cultural & recreational services 0.1 1.4 0.2   0.7 0.9 0.8
Personal & other services 0.3 0.4 1.3   1.2 1.1 2.0

Notes: Excluding agreements with non-quantifiable AAWI, those with effective duration of less than one year, and those with missing effective duration
(a) Matched to ANZSIC 1993 classifications by modal employees covered where an agreement covers multiple industries

Sources: Authors' calculations; Department of Jobs and Small Business Workplace Agreements Database